Brave New World
by YouDroolInYourSleep
Summary: When Percy is left homeless, he finds himself in the last place he ever wanted to be; The shelter - where he meets Annabeth Chase, a volunteer in which he apparently knew in middle school, but cannot remember. In desperate need of someone to talk to, Percy gradually finds the wall he built after his mother's death crumbling. But can he ever fully reveal his past to Annabeth? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hope you like it, I tried not to make Percy OOC but it's pretty difficult so let me know if I did okay? Enjoy!**

**NOTE: I do not own Percy Jackson or Heroes Of Olympus...If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction; I'd be writing The Blood Of Olympus and saving all of my favourite characters, including a epilogue with Percabeth's wedding.**

**I'm British, sorry for any British Grammar.**

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**CHAPTER ONE.**

**Percy**

This was it.

Rock bottom.

Percy sighed in anguish as he pushed open the doors of the tatty homeless shelter, the cold glass felt good against his burning, splintered fingers; But the rest of his body was ready to give up. His Percy battery was at 0.1%. He was starving. Thus, this was his last resort. He'd refused to give in to the smell of free - yet extremely average or unpleasant - soup emitting from the building as he wandered the streets. Because going to a homeless soup kitchen, would ultimately label him as a homeless person.

He really didn't want that.

But after days of his stomach growling at him and his ADHD brain imagining scenarios of transforming into a blue burger and eating himself, he decided to screw dignity. He was homeless now.

The room was just as bad as he'd pictured it.

It wasn't so much the room itself actually, just the abundance of Smelly Gabe lookalikes was enough to put him off. Percy just hoped that their personalities didn't resemble that of Smelly Gabe, otherwise he'd be out of there before you could say "I'd rather starve to death." Nonetheless, he scratched the back of his head shyly and stepped towards the end of an unfortunately long queue.

He felt so embarrassed here. Being an 18 year old surrounded by like, 100 year olds was so degrading. How often do you see a homeless teenager? Pretty much never. And everyone in this room that was roughly Percy's age was volunteering here. God knows why. Sure, they must get this warm, fuzzy satisfaction, bubbling inside after a long day of helping people...but looking around at the drunk, ill-mannered and well, dirty people, it didn't seem so worth it.

Yes, it's harsh to think that. But some of these people were here on their own accord, they probably didn't get kicked out onto the streets by their gross stepfathers like Percy. Their homelessness was probably a result of drugs or gambling. It seemed a little unfair.

Speaking of the volunteers, Percy found his eyes coming into contact with those of a girl serving soup. Percy looked away instantly, but he felt her stare glued to him. It was uncomfortable. He wasn't in the mood for pretty girls, and he especially wasn't in the mood for pretty girls feeling sorry for him without even knowing who he was. When he looked up again, he was thankful that she'd resumed pouring soup into bowls - what with all the embarrassing staring - and he had more time to observe her.

She seemed familiar.

Unusual grey eyes, blonde, curly hair...he'd met her before.

But maybe not. Maybe it was just another one of those times when someone even remotely nurturing had reminded him of his mother, Sally Jackson, and his mind instantly concluded that they'd met. When they hadn't.

Gods, his mother. He missed her so much. He missed her blue cooking and her hugs (whatever, he didn't care if that was uncool) but mostly he missed having her there to talk to, he hadn't had a friend in so long. His mom was always there though, stroking his hair and telling him it was going to be okay.

She wasn't always right about that. But he forgave her.

"Shut up, Brain." Percy mentally scolded himself for thinking about his mom, as usual. His emotional state was weakening, thinking about her was strictly rationed in order to prevent a break down which was probably stirring up by the minute.

"Next?" The pretty girl snapped him out of his trance. Along with a few agitated huffs from behind and even a forceful shove from a clearly pleasant, homeless person. Percy reluctantly walked over to the girl, momentarily contemplating making a run for it, but the skin tightening around his ribcage was enough of a kick up the butt to get him moving.

She smiled warmly at him as she reached for one of the bowls, Percy avoided her gaze, but it proved somewhat difficult after a while. She bit her lip, as though she was wanting to say something but couldn't, so Percy urged her on with a half-hearted smile of reassurance, not that he particularly wanted to hear what she wanted to say. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"You're Percy Jackson, right?"

Percy's eyes widened in surprise.

Great. She knows who he is. Maybe he could lie; Say that Percy Jackson died of an awesomeness overdose two years ago, and that the Percy standing here right now was merely his evil twin who was totally not as cool as the real Percy Jackson. And maybe the pretty girl could give her number to the reincarnated ghost of the real Percy Ja-

Damn it, ADHD.

"Yeah. Why?" He didn't mean to sound so blunt, but he didn't know how else to respond to someone who he had no intention of communicating with during his current physical and emotional state. Pretty-Girl scanned his face briefly, a little more reluctantly than before. He thought that maybe he'd embarrassed her but Percy found it difficult to read people at times. Especially girls.

"I-... We went to the same Middle school?" She looked at him expectantly, Percy stared back blankly. "Come on, you don't remember me at all?" She questioned. Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, unable to provide the response she was hoping for. "We were in the same shop class for a year!" She exclaimed jokingly, probably trying to make light of one of the most awkward situations Percy had ever faced.

Percy shrugged tiredly. "Sorry. I don't remember you." He mumbled, staring at the soup. Man, he hadn't eaten for days.

Pretty-Girl smiled sadly and handed him the bowl full of the warm substance. "Yeah, not many people do." She said, almost to herself. Percy nodded and glanced down at the bowl in his hands, wondering whether or not it'd be rude to walk away without another word and ravish his food. But he stayed put, after all, Pretty-Girl had provided him with his first meal in days, she at least deserved his acknowledgement.

"Well, anyway...thanks for the soup. It's really nice what you guys do for these people." He said genuinely.

Pretty-Girl seemed pleased by his comment, and she rewarded him with a smile. "Hey, no problem, it's nice seeing you again, Percy."

This made Percy's eye twitch. It wasn't nice seeing him again. He was homeless now, after all. How can it be nice to bump into one of your school friends at a homeless shelter, when not only are they a current filthy hobo now; But also completely forgotten you existed? This girl must be insane.

"Look, could you just like- forget you ever saw me here?" His lips started moving before he could determine the words that were pouring out on their own accord. "I don't know who you are but I know that if you knew me in middle school, then this," He gestured towards himself with his hands. "is not what you were expecting me to be like in the future. So I'd appreciate it if you'd just pretend like I'm a regular homeless kid, who you've never even seen before, please?"He pleaded.

The girl just stared at him and sighed.

"Look, you don't have to be ashamed of-"

"I'm not ashamed!" Percy protested. People were watching now. Awesome. Surrounded by tramps and he was the weirdest one there. His exhaustion kicked in, and all he wanted was to be back at home, in his warm bed, with his mom stroking his hair and telling him everything was going to be okay. He couldn't have that, but he was at least willing to settle for sitting down on one of the stools with his bowl of warm soup. "Just- just, forget it." He mumbled, miserably, dragging his feet away from the girl.

He didn't even know what he meant by "Just forget it." But it stopped her from bothering him, so he didn't care.

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**Super short, but I promise more content for future chapters...as long as you review! :)**

**-M**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hope you enjoy and I hope Annabeth isn't OCC either.**

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**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Annabeth**

Annabeth didn't like mornings.

Sunday mornings in particular, were those of her distaste; She'd love to indulge in staying in bed until whenever she pleased or dedicating her Sunday to a book or a TV show. You know, the things that _normal_ people do on Sundays.

But of course, that wasn't the case for Annabeth. You could say she had more of a hunger for life than that - that's what she told herself anyway - but in reality, Annabeth just couldn't bare the thought of, well, _wasting_ a day of her life. She was grateful for it, after all. Seeing as she'd been lucky enough to settle into a fairly small but also fairly cheap apartment with her friend, Thalia Grace. She couldn't really complain. Both girls had managed to scrape up enough money to split the rent and the costs of other essentials, while their jobs weren't exactly exhausting either.

Annabeth worked part time as a waitress and Thalia - who would've guessed? - landed a job at a record store which she'd had her eyes on for a while (It definitely had nothing to do with the abundance of cute, Gothic guys who also happened to work there too) but Annabeth and Thalia were both marginally content at the moment. They got along like sisters. Sure, there would be teasing and arguments here and there. But that was okay, because Annabeth knew Thalia would never intentionally hurt her and vice versa. Especially since they had been through so much together; Having parent issues in common is what brought them together and sort of tied an infinite knot around the two of them.

Speaking of Thalia,

As Annabeth dragged her exhausted frame out of her far-too-comfy bed, she couldn't help but feel envious of the raven-haired girl in the next room, snoring away blissfully. Damn that girl, her life was so laid back.

Annabeth, however, had made a commitment. And that was to dedicate her free time to the homeless shelter.

Though, after yesterday's scenario, she was considering calling in sick; It would only be a fraction of a lie as her stomach twisted unpleasantly at the thought of that boy who found his way back into her life again somehow. After all these years, she never thought she'd see Percy Jackson again - especially not at a homeless shelter!

_Gods, Percy Jackson._

She had _such _a crush on him in middle school. It was embarrassing, really. But he never found out...heck, he barely even knew who she was back then. Well, she realized that now, but at the time she seemed to have clung on to the hope that he secretly liked her the way she secretly liked him. Everyone fools themselves like that when they have feelings for someone, it's only human.

The infatuation began the minute the scruffy-haired boy with green eyes sat next to her in shop class. The seat next to Annabeth was the last seat, but he happily plopped down next to her with his ever-present smile. She remembered liking that about him, the careless aura that radiated off of him. Not to mention the fact that he was the only kid to sit next to her without a word of complaint. All of the others would scrunch up their noses and whine things such as "Do I have to sit with the dork?" and "She's so boring, can't I sit with my friends?" But Percy didn't seem to mind.

They didn't speak much that lesson, but the next day, Annabeth dropped her pencil. Of course, Percy picked it up and gave her a shy smile, and as he turned back to his book and scribbled, Annabeth knew she was a goner.

Things kind of went on like that for the first few weeks. They didn't talk much, but they'd subtly communicate with each other. Annabeth would correct his work sometimes and he'd say thank you, Percy would mumble sarcastic comments under his breath about the lesson and Annabeth made sure to laugh each time, even if the joke itself wasn't particularly funny. Yes, she was pathetic. But she was also young, so she had an excuse.

It wasn't until about 3 months into shop class when they finally spoke.

"Hey, did you- did you get this?" He interrupted her scribblings, she was whizzing through the theory work like a kid with a coloring book. Whereas Percy was tapping his pencil on question one. Annabeth looked up in surprise, she knew Percy had trouble writing (what with his dyslexia) but the questions had been very basic, she was surprised Percy was struggling.

It was irritatingly cute when his eyebrows scrunched together and he scratched the top of his head in confusion. Annabeth couldn't believe that none of the girls at the school seemed to be interested in him. He was just so-

"Annabeth?"

Yeah, she had ADHD too.

"Sorry... Yeah, no. You got that one wrong." She said flatly, trying to seem totally cool and collected in front of the boy she'd been crushing on for weeks.

Percy exhaled sadly, which made Annabeth feel all kinds of awful. She wasn't trying to make him feel stupid. "No, it's okay, Percy. You were... almost right."

Percy's expression shifted slightly. "I was?"

_No._

"Yes. See, you just _worded _it wrong." Annabeth grabbed the sheet of paper and pretended to elaborate his answer, when actually, she was totally reconstructing it. When she handed it back to Percy, he thankfully didn't seem to notice that her answer wasn't even close to what he'd written, he simply smiled at Annabeth, causing her stomach to feel all fuzzy and strange.

"Thanks. I thought I was being a total idiot for a second there." He chuckled sheepishly.

"No problem." She shrugged, writing out another question.

Percy was watching her, she knew it too. But there was no way she was going to look up at him, not with her face painted in the cherry red color that it was.

"You know, you're real smart." He said casually, as though the comment had slipped right off his tongue and he didn't care whether it made her heart pound against her ribcage or not. It felt good though, that someone actually saw _smart _as a good thing. Everyone else called her a dork or Teachers-Pet, but the way Percy said it, she could tell that he wasn't teasing her.

Annabeth pretended to be busy with her work, but she accidentally wrote the word "Percy" three times in her answer booklet. Luckily, he didn't see it.

So yeah, to say the least, Annabeth was disappointed that he hadn't recognized her yesterday.

Sure, she looked a little different now. A little less...plain. Since middle school, she'd developed curves and (after a long, long wait) breasts, and yeah, her spots had cleared up and her hair was a lot longer. But she was still Annabeth Chase, clear as day.

But why would he remember her? She was so irrelevant to everyone back then. Except Thalia and Luke, of course. And it wasn't like they'd kept in contact at all after middle school anyway, it just, well, it just reminded her how _forgettable _she was.

Just boring old Annabeth Chase.

Anyway, she had to snap out of it.

Yes, Percy was homeless now(!) but that wasn't any of her business.

Keeping that thought in mind, Annabeth grabbed a piece of toast, and with it dangling out of her mouth, she left the apartment.

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**Percy**

Starving, again.

And darn it, he'd tried so hard to avoid the place, especially after yesterday. But he was human after all, and he was pretty sure that humans needed food.

He could've rummaged through a few bins, but something about that just wasn't so appealing. He may have been homeless, but he at least had _some _standards. It wasn't until midday that he gave up. One can only walk around aimlessly for so long, he was sick of his brain talking to him about useless junk. He even told it to shut up a few times, but it wouldn't listen.

So he regretfully made his way to the shelter, once again.

He just hoped that Pertty-Girl wasn't going to be there again. He'd have to apologize for being so rude previously, and he wasn't one for apologies. Especially since his mom died and Smelly Gabe left him homeless - If anything, everyone should have been apologizing to _him. _Like, "Oh, sorry that you're a tramp Percy." or "Sorry that your step dad eats Douche-Flakes for breakfast."

He was a little irrational towards her though. It was actually kind of sweet that someone had remembered him after such a long time, it was just a shame he couldn't remember her in return.

The street he walked down was disgusting. There was no better way to describe it. Just disgusting. It was like, you'd pass through the most beautiful little town on the way there, with street performers and rose bushes and the smells from the bakeries and cafe's which made Percy feel even more physically empty as he walked past them. Then when you walk down this one little alley way, it was like The Wizard Of OZ in reverse.

You know when Dorothy opens the door of her house and suddenly everything's beautiful and in color? Well, it's nothing like that. It's stepping out of the land of Oz and into the land of drug dealers, broken windows and the delightful smell of urine.

If only Percy could tap his shoes and go home.

Standing at the entrance once again, he mentally braced himself for embarrassment. There was a high chance of him falling asleep the moment he sat somewhere remotely comfortable. He hadn't slept in so long - there wasn't anywhere _to _sleep, after all - he was just waiting for the insanity to kick in.

"Hurry up, Kid. It's cold out here y'know." Grumbled a rough voice from behind.

Percy hadn't realized how long he'd been stood at the door, but he'd formed a queue of pissed off homeless people behind him, and that certainly wasn't a safe situation to be in - considering how much Percy wanted to beat someone up after only being on the streets for over a week, these people had been homeless for god knows how long, they must've wanted to kill somebody and eat them for supper.

He blushed and apologized, hating the sound of his own voice. It sounded more gritty than last time he spoke.

The place was less crowded than the day before, it was only lunch time, so people weren't as desperate for food as they would be later on.

He could see the room more clearly now that there were less people, and take it from him - The place was no 5 star restaurant. The wallpaper was peeling and revealing a grim, green paint which the owner had the right mind to cover up. The floor boards had almost weathered away due to people stomping in with their wet shoes. All the tables were a little lopsided too, like they couldn't even be bothered to stand up anymore. But the thing that ticked Percy off the most, was that they dotted pictures of inspirational quotes along the walls like: _If you can dream it, you can achieve it._

Percy dreamed of killing Smelly Gabe last night. He wished he could achieve that.

As he walked over to the line again, he found himself rubbing his eyes uncomfortably. Why him? Why not Gabe or even that kid who gave him wedgies in high school? Why do bad things happen to marginally good people?

Percy felt something harshly collide into him. The last thing he heard before he opened his eyes was a gasp and then a gentle thud.

Percy had walked into someone, and now she was on her butt, with hot soup all over her T-shirt.

Of course, it was Pretty-Girl who was scowling up at him, her grey eyes burning into his soul.

_Crap._

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**Okay so I've been really sick all day so I decided to type up a HUGE freaking chapter. Well...this is what I call a long chapter because I don't tend to write that much in FF chapters but anyway I hope you thought it was long enough.**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! XXX  
**

**- M**


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